In the two hundredth year of the Tianqi Era, four kingdoms stood side by side, but Tianqi reigned supreme.
In those days, the Heavenly Sovereign sat upon the golden throne, while Xiao Ao commanded the armies of the realm. At his word, the world trembled.
But then the Hu tribes ravaged the central plains, and war erupted in the northern frontier. The imperial army was routed. Xiao Ao fell in battle, his body never found. The Empress vanished without a trace. Chancellor Liu Zhi sought aid with the Heavenly Sovereign's decree in hand, but his plea sank without a trace, never to be heard from again.
From then on, the realm had no master. Left Chancellor Pei Zhi held the crisis at bay alone for more than twenty years, preserving what remained of Tianqi through sheer force of will. But the tide had turned against them.
The Eastern Yi wove their schemes in secret, Northern Yan's cavalry rode south, and witchcraft ran rampant in the southern lands. Blood and fire blended into a portrait of a world in ruin.
Even the Buddhist world was no exception. Wanfo Temple and Tiantai Temple had struggled for a hundred years, where strict precepts stood alongside the blade, and murderous intent lurked beneath the chants of meditation.
In this age of turmoil, an obscure little beggar named Ergouzi stumbled into the game of power by pure chance.
He rose from the streets, scraping by amid mud and hunger;
He learned his skills among common folk and mastered the Art of Transport, slipping through the martial world like a shadow;
Through a twist of fate, he became the Keeper of the Myriad Buddhas' Dharma Treasury, taking charge of Buddhist secrets as he watched the world change.
He seemed playful, but harbored grand ambitions. He pretended to be weak while waiting to strike, defying fate at every turn.
No one knew that this seemingly lowly beggar would one day unleash a storm upon the chaotic world and decide who would rule the realm.
